Smokeless-powder grain.



' PATENTED' AUG. 2, 1904.

H. MAXIM. SMOKBLESS POWDER GRAIN.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1, 1901.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

NO MODEL.

WgTNESSES ATTORNEY PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

H, MAXIM. SMOKELESS POWDER GRAIN. APPLICATION FILED MAY 1, 1901.

INVENTOR N0 MODEL.

ATTORNEY? PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

H. MAXIM.v SMOKELES S POWDER GRAIN.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

H0 MODEL.

INVENTOR Urtirnn Salar es Patented August 2, 1904...

PATENT 7 Gretna,

smoaeresswowoeaseam.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Nd, 766,455, dated August 2, 1904.

Application filed May 1, 1901. salient. 58,372. '(No spehifiiensl.) v

- Sterling Place,Broklyn,city and State of New specification.

vid-e great density of loading,

York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Smokeless-Powder Grains, which in-. veutio'n is fully set forth in the following The present invention relates to improvements in smokeless powder cartridges and charges especially adapted to use in large g s f The object of the invention is mainly toigirovide a powder charge which shall be consumed in the gun by accelerating combustion.

To this end the invention provides a rod or bar of gunpowder or unit of a powder charge which per unit'of weight provides the minimum of area to the flame of. ignition and the maximum-of area at, the instant before the complete consumption of the charge.

A further object of the invention is to prowhereby the maximum of smokeless-powder material may be'got into the powder-chamber of the gun and which shall, owing to thereduce'd initial burning surfaces, not give excessive 'pressures.

' tortion-and, further,

whereby sheets or 'ing further with the In carrying out the invention in the preIerable way the smokeless-powder material while in a plastic state due to a contained volatile solvent is forced through a forming die, slabs of the material are produced. These sheets or slabs are then al-' lowed to lose aportion of their solven'tby evaporation to facilitate handling without disto secure a certain and desired amount of shrinkage before proceedpractice of the invention, as hereinafter specified. VVhen a certain amount of drying has been effected, the sh'eets or slabs or rods or bars, as they may be termed, are then passed through any suitable cell-forming device having the cell-forming pins of such length that the sheets 'o'f material shall be punctured from both sides that is to say,from oppositesides to a certain desired depth, leaving such thickness of ma'terialbetween the bottoms of the cells onone side and the bottoms of the cells on the opposite side asto constitute what may I be termed a rial-that is to say sucha thickness of matelateral direction upon powder grain.

burning thickness of material as will just be burned through before the plOJBCiJllB leaves the gun flame acting from opposite surfaces, so that the bottoms of thecells on one side ofthe sheet shall be deepened by combustion and the from theconsuming cells on the opposite side shall be deepened by combustion, .so that thethickness of material between the bottomsof the said opposing cells shall beburned'through and the cells made to connect and form continuous grain at the instant before the complete consumption of the charge. T0 produce maxiperforations extending transversely through the powder' mum effects, the material between the bot toms of the opposite cells should be made of the same thickness (as the material between thesides ofthe'cells'piercedin one face of -material,*so that bythe enlargement of the cellsfrom combustion the bottoms of the cells on the one side -of .the material shall burn through and into' the likewise deepened cells on the'opposite side at the. exact instant that allof the cells, burn together on one face of the material.

It is obvious that as the bottoms of the cells burn deeper they likewise burn. wider, thus producing an accelerating effect to the combustion and an effect identical with that produced by the enlargement of the cells in a or bar of the material, and at the instant of intersection or burning together of the cells at their bottoms there willbe a small quantity of material unconsumed about the bottoms of the cells where they burn together, and this in thickness and size with that left unconsumed between the'cells or perforations in a lateral direction in one face of the material or v I therefore secure between the bottoms of the cells the effect of accelerating combustion \vithout perforating the material between the bottoms of the cells, and

thereby am enabled to lessen the amount of initial area exposed to the flame of co1nbus-' tion which would be the clear through the rod terial before ignition.

or bar of powder ma It is furthermore obone face or side of a rod body of 'unconsumed material will correspond 4 case if the cells passed as the perforations become enlarged, because the ratio of increase between the original diameter of a small cell and of the cell enlarged f ness with this powder would be about-an eighth of an inch.. Therefore I prefer to to the point of intersection with the neighboring cell is much greater than when the cells are made larger, especially of. such size as the cells in multiperforated powder rods or bars now in use.

The preferable way of forming the rods or bars is to stuff through a forming-die the ma- 2o terial in-such form of rods or bars as shall be desired in the final product without further cutting, except to cut them into desired lengths. These-rods or bars are preferably rounded at the edges-that is to say, the die is 2 5 made of such shape that the rods or bars are made without corners or edges. This rounding of the edges lessens the initial burning area and at the same time provides channels through which the flame of ignition may 0 freely pass through a charge madeup of such rods or bars of material and between the rods or bars.

An important advantage or this invention is that the rods 01'' bars or slabs of smokeless- 3 5 powder material may bemade much thinner and smaller in cross-section than the usual form heretofore employed for a given size of gun and still by presenting less initial area will give less initial pressure as well as greater 4o acceieration of combustion. In other words,

if we assume the use of a given initial pressure for a powder charge of given weight thenby means of the present invention we r are enabled to employ rods or bars of powder of much smaller cross-sectional thickness or diameter in one direction. It is the amount of initial area per unit of weight of material that gives ilnitialpressure. Therefore it is obvious that'by using a form of rod or bar adapted to present tothe flame of ignition a 'ssmaller initial area per unit of weight then to produce a given pressure we may make our powder rods or bars correspondingly smaller. Thisi'eature of this invention has particular advantages in facilitating blending of powder. It is furthermore obvious that we may, if .desired, make by means of this invention our rods or bars of the material very large and massive and stillmore lessen the initial area 6 to the flame of ignition.

In practicing the-invention an advantage is secured bysometimes using powder rods or bars of varying cross-sectional dimensions for building up a charge for a' gun, the body of the charge being built up of the larger rods and a part of the other dimension-that is or barsand the smaller rods or bars used to fill out the spaces at the periphery of the charge left unfilled by the larger bars, thereby facilitatingthe work and effecting a very thicknessesthick and about twice as wide as thick. f In a ten-inch'gun one burning thickmake for use in ten-inch guns a rod or bar of material three eighths thick and threequarters of an ,inch wide, the depth of the eellsbeing one-eighth of an inch and the cells being one-eighth of-an inch apart in the (lirection ofthe' longitudinal axis of the rod or bar and in a direction transverse to that axis on the same plane, and the thickness of the material between the bottoms of the cells on one side and the bottoms'of the cells on the other side being also one-eighth of an inch.

1 may also, of course, make the rodsorbars or slabs an' inch and a half wide and three eighths of an inch thick, or I may build up a charge consisting of part of one-dimension to say, I may use some rods -or bars of one width and some of another width in the same charge and rods or bars of difierent thicknesses, if desired.

It is obvious that by making the rods or'bars smaller and thinner, especially by making them thin in one direction, it will facilitate the drying of the material and at the same time tend to minimize a tendency to warp or crack.

'While the preferable manner of procedure is to mold the rods or bars into definite shape by stufling them througha forming-die, still when making powder for certain purposes I may stuff the material into broad sheets and then form the cells in the sheets and then cut them up into rods or bars equal in length and thickness to the cross-sectional dimension of the sheet and of such width as may be desired.

The rods or bars may have the cells'formed therein before or after they are cut from the sheet.

There is obviously anotner especial ac1vantage of this invention owing tothe shortness or shallowness of the cells, and it is that the cells may be made with a much simpler and less expensive device and with less distortion of the cells in forming them than if they were made continuous extending through the rod or bar of smokeless-powder material. If cellforming wheels be employed armed with pins, the wheels may be made smaller andstill. more eflectually do the work than if the cells were made long enough to extend through the material. Consequently a correspondingly smaller ig o be done along the lines of the cells, or it'may- ,be done between the said lines, one side of Figs. 3 and 4 being cut on the lines of the cells and the other side between'the lines of the said cells. Figs. 5 and 6 show rods .o 'r bars made by stufling them lengthwise from adi' similar to that shown in Fig. 1 instead of forming the material into sheets in the manner already described and then cutting them into rods or bars. An obvious advantage of making the bars in the forms shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is that they may be made with rounded corners or edges. This method also saves one operation in cutting. Fig. 7 is a crosssection of Fig. 6. Figs. 8 and 9 are crosssections through Fig. 10 onlines 8 8 and 9 9, respectively. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the cells on one side of the bar shown in Fig. 5 at the instant before the cellsburn together. Fig. 11 shows the side of a bar like that of Fig. 5, but with the cells made square instead of round. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the cells at th'e'instant before they burn together, illustrating how rectangular cells'retain their angular form. Fig. 13 is a crosssection through Fig. 12. Fig. 14 is an end view, partly in cross-section, of a charge made up of rods or bars of different sizes and widths, but all having cells formed therein insuch wise as to cause them all to be consumed at the same instant, because all of the sizes are provided with cells arranged in such wise that the same burning thickness of material exists between the cells and the same time is required for the perforations to burn together. Fig. 14 is an end View of a cartridge charge for a six-inch gun, full size. Some of the different sizes, thicknesses, and widths of the bars of smokeless-powder material are shown in crosssection. In some of the cross-sections the section-lining has been omitted in order to show more clearly the arrangement of the cells, the perforations cut by the section being shown in fulllines, while the adjacent line of perforations standing in staggered relation to the same are shown in dotted lines.

What is claimed is 1. An integral mass of explosive material of uniform thickness provided with a plurality of uniformly-distributed cells whose depth exceeds their transverse dimension, said cells extending from opposite sides of the mass.

into but not through the same.

2. An integral mass of explosive material .ing cells formed in two of uniform thickness provided with a plurality of uniformly-distributed transverse laterally-opening cells extending from diametrically-disposed points on the opposite sides of the mass into but not through the same, each pair of diametrically -'disposed cells having their bottoms separated by athickness of material equal to the uniform distance between the several holes on the surface of the'mass.

3. An integral unit of smokeless powder, in the form'of a rod or bar or slab, provided with cells extending thereinto from opposite sides, to a distance less than half of the diameter of the said rod or bar, taken on a line through the cells.-

4. An integral unit or body of smokelesspowder material, provided with a plurality of cells in opposite faces, the depths of the cells being less than half the diameter of the body.

5.- An integralmass or body of smokelesspowder material, provided with a plurality of cells in opposite thickness of material between the bottoms of the cells substantially equal to the thickness ofltlhe material forming the other walls of said ce s.

\ 6. An integral rod or bar of smokeless-powder'material, provided with a plurality of cells in opposite faces thereof, the said cells being each substantially in line or concentric with a corresponding cell in the opposite face of the rod or bar, substantially as described.

7. A cartridge charge, composed of integral" sides, and provided-with a p rods or'bars of smokeless-powder material of I varying cross-sectional dimensions, but pro, vided with uniformly-distributed cells .ar;

ranged in such wise as to effect the simultaneous consumption of all parts of the charge.

8. Acartridge charge, consisting of smokeless-powder rods or bars of different sizes, each of which has a series of multicells, but with uniform thickness of material between said multicells, whereby the larger rods or bars will be consumed in equal time with the smaller ones. i

9. A rod or bar of explosive material having parallel sides orfaces and rounded corners and uniformly-distributed laterally-openof the oppositely-disposed faces.

10. A cartridge charge composed of a plurality of sizes of rods or bars of explosive ma-- terial having parallel sides and rounded corners, each of the said rods or bars having a have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, HUDSON MAXIM.

Witnesses:

C. A. L. MASSIE, ELfsHA K. CAMP. 

